Lauderdale: A brighter future

Background

In 2010 the Advance Lauderdale Association (ALA) was born from the lack of development and a concern for how the area was declining Mr Figg said.

A group of locals got together and formed the association and then invited other members of the community to join.

From this ALA decided that the area now known as Central Lauderdale was underutilised and needed to be rezoned.

As most of the members owned the five acre lots that made up Central Lauderdale, it made sense for us to lobby for Central Lauderdale to be rezoned from rural to residential.

Up to 2007 Central Lauderdale was zoned “Future Urban” and was then changed by Council to rural with the reasoning being that Lauderdale was lacking in services such as sewerage.

IN 2008 Jock Campbell, the Mayor of Clarence announced the tender to sewer Lauderdale and now the whole of Lauderdale is capable of connecting to the system.
Since the establishing ALA we have become pivotal in the efforts to bring Woolworths to the area and also assisting with the rejuvenation of the run-down Lauderdale shopping centre.

With the development, will come a road from manatta street to Acton Road and the Lauderdale school bypassing the South arm road. This with the bicycle network will bring a safer place for the children and elder to move and play.

The road to rezoning has been a long and trying task, as we have been caught up in 3 planning schemes,

The 2007 Clarence Planning scheme
The Clarence Interim Scheme and now
The Tasmanian State-wide planning scheme.

Clarence City Council passed the rezoning of Central Lauderdale in March 2014 but in February 2015 the planning Minister Gutwein, although sympathetic to the proposal, needed council to do more, so he Directed the Council to amend the Lauderdale Structure Plan and the Southern Tasmanian Regional Land Use Strategy (STRLUS) to allow for the rezoning.

December 2015 JMG were selected by council to produce a Feasibility report into the rezoning of Central Lauderdale. This report stated, as did the Pitt & Sherry report in 2012 that Central Lauderdale could be developed and would assist in the protection of properties around it from storm surges and inundation through better stormwater systems and the raising of the land including South Arm road.

The benefits to the community and visitors to the area are enormous, firstly the community has got together to try and solve problems before they occur using their funds and efforts instead of crying for a handout from the Government of the Day.

The Government has recognised the problems and has congratulated the efforts of the Community in Lauderdale for their forward thinking and efforts to build Lauderdale with around 500 new houses, hundreds of immediate jobs and a boost to government revenue in rates, taxes.

The Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison stated that ““[Barriers to owning a house are] complex land planning and development regulation; insufficient land release; the planning, cost and availability of infrastructure provision. He stated States need to do more to allow for growth.

With the rezoning, will come more affordable housing, more children for the local school, a boost to the local economy and a future for our community, said Mr FIGG

All that needs to happen now is for the Clarence Council to finish what the Minister has directed them to do and modify the Lauderdale structure plan and amend the STRLUS.

Hopefully with a fairer, faster, cheaper, simpler planning system, this will happen ?
Advance Lauderdale Association Chairman Michael FIGG